ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
SAI seeks report over flouting of Covid norms at Wrestling National Championships
The Sports Authority of India has taken cognisance of media reports which state that social distancing norms and other procedures in the SOPs for organising competitions amidst the coronavirus pandemic were allegedly flouted at the Wrestling National Championships held at the Noida Stadium on January 23.
Speaking about the issue, Sandip Pradhan, Director General, SAI said, "We have taken up the matter with the Wrestling Federation of India and impressed upon them that the SOP for competitions has to be adhered to strictly. We have also sought a report from the Federation on alleged violation, by Monday. The federation has assured compliance of protocol."
SAI has also requested Indian Olympic Association to sensitize all National Sports Federations to follow the covid protocols strictly to ensure safety of athletes.
Special Service and Features
IGNOU has extended the last date for submitting applications for admissions till 10th February, 2022
Indira Gandhi National Open University  has extended the last date for submitting applications for Fresh Admission/ Re-Registration for all programmes till 10th February, 2022 for its ongoing admissions to January 2022 session.
The university is offering Masters and Bachelors Degree programmes in various subjects including MBA, MBA in Banking and Finance, Rural Development, Computer Applications, Tourism Studies, English, Hindi, Philosophy, Gandhi and Peace Studies, Education, Public Administration, Economics, History, Political Science, Sociology, Psychology, Adult Education, Extension and Development Studies, Environmental Studies Gender and Development Studies, Distance Education, Anthropology, Commerce, Social Work, Dietetics and Food Services Management, Counselling and Family Therapy, Library and Information Science, Journalism and Mass communication, Environmental Studies etc. IGNOU is also offering Post Graduate Diploma, Diploma, and Certificate programmes on a wide range subjects.
 at the earliest in order to confirm the admission.
For further details contact IGNOU Regional Centre Trivandrum, Rajadhani Building, Killippalam, Karamana. P.O, Thiruvananthapuram 695002, Ph: 0471-2344113/2344120/9447044132 Email: rctrivandrum@ignou.ac.in.
Ministry of Power
NHPC’s 510 MW Teesta-V Power Station, Sikkim conferred with ‘Blue Planet Prize’ by International Hydropower Association 
NHPC’s 510 MW Teesta-V Power Station located in the Himalayan State of Sikkim has been conferred with the prestigious Blue Planet Prize by International Hydropower Association , a London based non-profit membership association operating in 120 countries. The power station has been built, owned and being operated by NHPC. The award for Teesta-V Power Station was announced yesterday during the World Hydropower Congress, 2021. The award had been conferred to Teesta-V Power Station based on its sustainability assessment undertaken by a team of accredited lead assessors of IHA in 2019 using the Operation Stage tool of the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol  of IHA.
The IHA membership includes leading hydropower owners and operators, developers, designers, suppliers and consultants. The IHA Blue Planet Prize is awarded to hydropower projects that demonstrate excellence in sustainable development. The Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol  is the leading international tool for measuring the sustainability of hydropower projects. It offers a way to benchmark the performance of a hydropower project against a comprehensive range of environmental, social, technical and governance criteria. Assessments are based on objective evidence and the results are presented in a standardized report.
Ministry of Agriculture &
Farmers Welfare
National Workshop on FRP inaugurated at ICAR-CIFA
Researchers from 12 States participated in the workshop
AICRP on PEASEM center at ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Bhubaneswar organized National workshop-cum-Hands on Training programme on “Design and development process of agricultural gadgets in FRP” during 15-16 July, 2022. Dr. R.K. Singh, Project Coordinator of AICRP on PEASEM, Ludhiana; Dr. S.K. Jena, Project Coordinator, CRP on Water, ICAR-IIWM, Bhubaneswar and Dr. Saroj Kumar Swain, Director, ICAR-CIFA, Bhubaneswar graced the inaugural session. Participants from twelve states & UT  participated in the programme. CIPET-IPT, Bhubaneswar is providing technical support to the programme.
Dr. B.C. Mohapatra, Principal Scientist & PI of AICRP on PEASEM, ICAR-CIFA organized this workshop and welcomed the guests from different parts of the country. He highlighted the role and significant achievements of the AICRP center at ICAR-CIFA, Bhubaneswar and the design of the course curriculum for the training. Chief Guest of the function, Dr. R.K. Singh highlighted the usage of plastics in improving agricultural production across the sectors like field crops, vegetables, fruits, fishery, animal production, etc. However, more efforts are needed in order to make the technology available to the needy persons and to standardize it as per Indian conditions. He urged to accelerate research on plastics which could be reused over single use plastics with objective to venture new and promising applications of plastics in Indian agriculture.
Dr. Jena highlighted the use and usefulness of plastic lined ponds in the agriculture sector of the country. He also urged the participants to take the benefit of this training and popularise the eco-friendly plasticulture technologies for the growth of the agriculture sector.
Dr. Saroj Kumar Swain, Director, ICAR-CIFA as president of the function highlighted the achievements of the institute on application of plastics in aquaculture. Among them portable FRP carp hatchery is the star technology of the aquaculture sector the others are silos as recirculatory aquaculture system, live fish transport tank, different types of feeders, poly house pond for temperature enhancement in winter seasons, mobile fish vending unit for hygienic fish marketing, aquaponics, portable FRP magur and pabda hatcheries, etc.
The programme is coordinated by Dr. D. Panda, Sr. Scientist and Mr. N.K. Chandan, Scientist, ICAR-CIFA, Bhubaneswar.
Cabinet
Cabinet approves extension of the Market Intervention Scheme for procurement of apples in Jammu and Kashmir for the year 2020-21
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, approved the extension of Market Intervention Scheme  for apple procurement in Jammu and Kashmir  for the current season also i.e. 2020-21 on the same terms and condition as was done in J&K during last season i.e. 2019-20.
The procurement of apple will be done by Central Procuring Agency i.e. National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation ltd.  through State Designated Agency i.e. Directorate of Planning and Marketing, Department of Horticulture & Jammu & Kashmir Horticulture Processing and Marketing Corporation , directly from apple farmers of J&K and the payment will be made through Direct Benefit Transfer  into Bank account of apple farmers. 12 LMT of apples can be procured under this scheme.
Government has also allowed NAFED to utilize Government Guarantee of Rs. 2,500 Crore for this operation. The losses, if any, to be incurred in this operation will be shared between Central Government and UT administration of J&K on 50:50 basis.
The constituted Designated Price Committee of last Season will be continued for the fixation of price of various variety and grades of apples for this Season also. The UT administration of J&K shall ensure the provision of basic amenities in the designated mandis.
Smooth and continuous implementation of the procurement process will be monitored by constituted Monitoring Committee under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary at the central level and constituted implementation & Coordination Committee under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary at the UT Level.
This announcement of the Government of India will provide an effective marketing platform to apples growers and will facilitate employment generation for the local people. It will ensure remunerative prices for apples resulting in overall income enhancement of farmers in J&K.
Ministry of Women and Child Development
Health Outreach Services during Covid-19
The Government has been regularly reviewing the situation in consultation with States/UTs. In order to improve the nutritional status of Women and Children, Ministry of Women and Child Development is implementing Supplementary Nutrition Programme under Anganwadi Services and Scheme for Adolescent Girls under the Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services  Scheme to children , Pregnant Women, Lactating Mothers and out-of-school Adolescent Girls . As per the directions issued by Ministry of Home Affairs, under Disaster Management Act, 2005, all the Anganwadi Centres across the country were closed to limit the impact of COVID-19. However, to ensure continuous nutritional support to Anganwadibeneficiaries, Anganwadi Workers and Helpers have been distributing supplementary Nutrition at the doorsteps of the beneficiaries. Further, this Ministry has issued necessary directions to the States/UTs to ensure distribution of food items and nutrition support by Anganwadi workers, once in 15 days, at the doorstep of beneficiaries. In addition, Anganwadi Workers and Anganwadi Helpers have been assisting the local administration in community surveillance, creating awareness or other works assigned to them from time to time.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued the guidance note on “Provision of Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent Health Plus Nutrition  services during & post COVID-19 Pandemic” with States and UTs which states that campaign mode services such as - mass Vitamin a prophylaxis, campaigns for Intensified Diarrhea Control Fortnight , National Deworming Day  and Anemia can be provided on an alternative mechanism like through home delivery of essential services & commodities etc. based on local situations. The continuation of outreach services through modified VHSNDs and Home visits by health workers was recommended in area beyond buffer zone and green zone. The activities in the containment and buffer zone were recommended through the routine visits of COVID workers. Essential medicine like IFA, ORS, calcium and Zinc are home delivered in containment zones. Specific guidance notes on the provision of the outreach services with all States and UTs to ensure continuity of essential outreach services has been issued and Webinars on implementation of outreach services related to Anemia, Nutrition Rehabilitation Centers , Special Newborn Care Units , Diarrhoea prevention, NDD and IYCF practices etc have been organized.
This information was given in a written reply by the Union Minister of Women and Child DevelopmentSmt. Smriti Zubin Irani in Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
India’s Cumulative COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage exceeds 219.15 Cr
Over 4.11 Cr 1st dose vaccines administered for age group 12-14 years
India's Active caseload currently stands at 26,509
2,786 new cases reported in the last 24 hours
Recovery Rate currently stands at 98.76%
Weekly Positivity Rate is presently at 1.05%
India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 219.15 Cr  as per provisional reports till 7 am today.
COVID-19 vaccination for the age group 12-14 years was started on 16 March, 2022. So far, more than 4.11 Cr  adolescents have been administered with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Similarly, the COVID-19 precaution dose administration for age group 18-59 years also started from 10th April, 2022 onwards.
The break-up of the cumulative figure as per the provisional report till 7 am today include:
|
|
Cumulative Vaccine Dose Coverage
|
|
HCWs
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
10415293
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
10119809
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
7049964
|
|
FLWs
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
18436985
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
17718153
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
13701961
|
|
Age Group 12-14 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
41104996
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
32009908
|
|
Age Group 15-18 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
61974140
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
53195854
|
|
Age Group 18-44 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
561352552
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
516061306
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
98588987
|
|
Age Group 45-59 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
204040458
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
197024817
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
49936055
|
|
Over 60 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
127675835
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
123184640
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
47947568
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
21,72,24,535
|
|
Total
|
|
2,19,15,39,281
India’s Active Caseload currently stands at 26,509. Active cases now constitute 0.06% of the country's total Positive Cases.
Consequently, India’s recovery rate stands at 98.76%. 2,557 patients have recovered in the last 24 hours and the cumulative tally of recovered patients  is now at 4,40,65,963.
2,786 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours.
The last 24 hours saw a total of 2,57,965 COVID-19 tests being conducted. India has so far conducted over 89.78 Cr  cumulative tests.
Weekly Positivity Rate in the country currently stands at 1.05% and the Daily Positivity rate is reported to be 1.08%.
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
Sports Ministry sanctions Rs 10 lakh for the treatment of hockey Olympian Mohinder Pal Singh
The Sports Ministry has sanctioned Rs 10 lakh towards the treatment of hockey Olympian Mohinder Pal Singh, who is suffering from a chronic kidney ailment and is currently on dialysis. The money, sanctioned under the Pandit Deendayal Upadhaya National Welfare Fund for Sportspersons, was given to his wife Shivjeet Singh on Monday.
Speaking about the decision to extend financial support to Singh, Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Shri. Kiren Rijiju said, “It is a constant endeavour of the Sports Ministry to ensure support to anyone who has served sport in India. MP Singh ji has contributed richly to hockey both as a player and a coach. His physical condition is a matter of great concern for all of us. Kidney treatment is an expensive treatment and we wanted to extend as much financial support as we could. I have also spoken to Mahesh Sharma ji, who is the Member of Parliament of Noida where MP Singh ji lives and a letter has also been sent from his office to PM Relief Fund so that the hospital bills can be paid through the fund.” Recently, Shri Rijiju met Shivjeet Singh and several other veteran hockey players to assure them of assistance from the Ministry.
MP Singh, who was the coach of the Indian Hockey team, was an outstanding hockey player who represented India various international events, including the 1988 Summer Olympics. He was also a member of the Indian Hockey team that won the Asian Cup in 2007.
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
1st G20 Trade and Investment Working Group  Meeting in Mumbai
The 1st TIWG meeting under India’s G20 Presidency is scheduled in Mumbai, from March 28th - 30th, 2023. During this three-day Meeting, over 100 delegates from G20 member countries, invitee countries, regional groupings and international organisations will engage in deliberations to accelerate global trade and investments.
On the first day, a seminar on ‘Trade Finance’ will be held at the Ballroom, Taj Lands’ End, Mumbai. The role of banks, financial institutions, development finance institutions and export credit agencies in closing the trade finance gap, and how digitalisation and fintech solutions can improve access to trade finance, will be discussed through two panel discussions. It will be followed by a guided tour of Bharat Diamond Bourse.
On 29th March, 2023, the TIWG Meeting will be inaugurated by Hon’ble Commerce & Industry Minister of India.
Subsequently, in the two working sessions, the TIWG priority issues focussed on making trade work for growth and prosperity, and building resilient Global Value Chains  will be discussed. The emphasis will be on achieving shared outcomes for making growth inclusive and resilient, increasing the participation of developing countries and the Global South in GVCs, making GVCs work for inclusive development and building resilient GVCs to withstand future shocks.
On the concluding day, the TIWG priorities on integrating MSMEs in Global Trade, and building efficient logistics for trade will be discussed across two working sessions. The Presidency will aim to carry forward the work done by past G20 Presidencies to better integrate MSMEs into global trade considering their primacy in sustaining livelihoods in both the developed and developing countries. The ways of developing robust logistics infrastructure that could reduce transaction costs both across borders and in the hinterlands will also be deliberated by the G20 delegates.
Under India’s Presidency, the aim is to build a shared understanding of the challenges being faced in accelerating global trade and investment, and how existing opportunities can be harnessed for the benefit of humanity following the motto of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and find common solutions.
Prime Minister's Office
PM shares an article on learnings from Mahatma Gandhi’s home in Porbandar
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi today shared an article on learnings from Mahatma Gandhi’s home in Porbandar.
Quoting a tweet from ‘Modi Achieve’ the Prime Minister tweeted:
“Do you all know, Mahatma Gandhi’s home in Porbandar offers a great lesson in water conservation.
You’ll enjoy reading this.
https://www.narendramodi.in/what-gandhi-ji-s-home-in-porbandar-teaches-us-532460”
DS
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Ministry of Coal
Coal Ministry Identifies More Blocks to Enhance Coking Coal Production
In order to further step up coking coal production, the Ministry of Coal has identified four coking coal blocks and the Central Mine Planning and Design Institute  also will finalize Geological Report  for 4 to 6 new coking coal blocks in the coming months. These blocks may be offered in subsequent rounds of auction for private sector to further increase domestic raw coking coal supply.
With these measures being undertaken by the Ministry under Aatmanirbhar Bharat, domestic raw coking coal production is likely to reach 140 Million Ton  by 2030. Coal India Ltd  has planned to increase raw coking coal production from existing mines up to 26 MT and identified nine new mines with Peak Rate Capacity  of about 22 MT by FY 2025. Also, CIL has offered eight discontinued coking coal mines, out of the total 30 discontinued mines, on an innovative model of revenue sharing to the private sector with a PRC of 2 MT.
Finance Commission
The Fifteenth Finance Commission meets representatives of Madhya Pradesh PRIs
The 15th Finance Commission headed by Chairman, Shri N.K. Singh alongwith its Members and senior officials met today with the representatives of the Panchayati Raj Institutions  of Madhya Pradesh.
The Commission was informed that all 29 functions of PRIs as envisaged in the 11th schedule of the Constitution, have been devolved to PRIs in Madhya Pradesh and the State has been releasing funds currently as per the recommendations of the 3rd State Finance Commission.
Madhya Pradesh has a total of 23,177 PRIs, of which 52 are Zilla Panchayats, 313 Janpad Panchayats and 22,812 Gram Panchayats.
As per the major recommendations of the 3rd SFC,
- 4 percent of the net taxes of the State should be devolved to the PRIs – this has been accepted by the Government of Madhya Pradesh and the amount was distributed to GPs as per Census 2011 population and minimum per capita share.
- Grant of Rs. 50 crore for the maintenance of assets at the Gram Panchayats level should be provided. The allocation of this grant would be based upon the population of the Gram Panchayats – the State Govt. has decided to give maintenance grant of Rs. 50 Cr. .
The 14th Finance Commission had recommended for the period 2015-20, a devolution of Rs. 12200.72 crores to Madhya Pradesh as Basic Grant  and a devolution of Rs. 1355.64 crores as Performance grant .
The Commission has observed that:
- The State has been releasing funds currently as per the recommendations of 3rd SFC. The recommendations of the 4th SFC had not been accepted, while the submission of the report of 5th SFC is still awaited.
- The 15th FC would have to take a call on whether it would recommend grants only for Gram Panchyats out of 3 tiers of PRIs in the State - in view of the fact the 14th Finance Commission had recommended grants for only Gram Panchayats.
- In 2016-17 & 2017-18, all 3 tiers of PRIs had generated zero own revenue – both own tax revenue and non-tax revenue.
Representatives of 22 PRIs of whom 5 were ladies, were present for discussions with the Finance Commission.
The Commission further noted all the concerns highlighted by the representatives of the PRIs and promised to address them in its recommendations to the Central Government.
Ministry of Labour & Employment
Safety of Inter-State Migrant Workers
The Ministry of Labour and employment proposes to develop National Database of Unorganised Workers , which will be a comprehensive data base of the Unorganised Workers including the Building and other Construction Workers and Migrant workers, seeded with Aadhaar. It will have details of name, occupation, address, occupation type, educational qualification, skill types & family details etc. for optimum realization of their employability and extend the benefits of the social security schemes to them.
The details of schemes/programme implemented by Government for welfare of unskilled and skilled migrant labourers in the country inter-alia include such as; Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan, Pradhan Mantri SVANIDHI Scheme, Aatm Nirbhar Bharat, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, One Nation One Ration Card, financial assistance to Building and Other Construction workers etc.
Labour Bureau, an attached office of the Ministry of Labour& Employment, has been entrusted with the task of conducting the All India Survey on Migrant Workers. An Expert Group has been constituted by the Government of India on 9th September, 2020 to examine and finalize the schedules, sampling design and other technical details of the aforesaid survey being conducted by the Labour Bureau.
‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan ’ is a universal education programme, Government of India to provide free and compulsory education to the children of 6-14 years age group under Right to Education, which is accessible to the children of inter-state migrant workers as well. In addition, Ministry of Minority Affairs, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Labour& Employment, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Department of School Education & Literacy and some other Ministries provide scholarships to different target groups of students including children of Migrant workers. All these scholarships are coordinated through National Scholarship Portal. In order to safeguard the interest of the migrant workers, the Central Government had enacted the Inter-state Migrant Workmen  Act, 1979. This Act has now been subsumed in the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 and the Code has been notified on 29.09.2020. The above mentioned code commonly known as OSH Code, provides for decent working conditions, minimum wages, grievances redressal mechanisms, protection from abuse and exploitation, enhancement of the skills and social security to all category of organised and unorganised workers including Migrant workers.
This information was given by Minister of State  for Labour & Employment Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.